Italian Vacation 2020

Have never been to Italy before but thought I should document our travels as we go. Let’s give this a whirl!!

January 8, 2020

Take off from St. John’s at 12:45pm. Headed to Toronto. Renee brought portable air conditioning. 

Awesome dinner at Lee Kitchen in International Departures area. Starting to feel we are on vacation!  The air conditioning continues!!

January 9, 2020Made it safe and sound to Cole (small village about 50 minutes outside of Florence). Dale and Les are proving to be amazing hosts!  Picked ya up at the airport and had a HUGE gift basket waiting for us at the hotel. 
Had a quick walk around town and ate some delish pastries, a cappuccino and a deli sandwich ... then for a power nap. Renee suffering with her ears from the flights!!!  

Just outside hotel door 

Town of Colle

Met Mauro and Angela (friends of Dale and Les) at their home and then went to Gimmi Joes for the most amazing pizza and wine. Incredible!!

January 10, 2020

Market Day in Colle!

January 11, 2020

January 12. 2020

Great Weekend with Matthew

It was strange (but fun) to spend this past weekend with Matthew and without Daniel!  They generally come as a package but this weekend was the exception.  Matthew and his Avalon Team were victorious in both games against Burin - winning both by a score of 3-1.  Matthew played both games in their entirety on the back end and played really well!  They all did.

Once his second game was over, it was a mad rush to the Subway parking lot in Marystown to meet his class for a trip to St. Pierre (small French island on the south coast of Newfoundland).  Is it me or are kids today busier than ever with everything.... school, sports, special events....  I don't remember being that busy as a kid but the boys do seem to enjoy it!!  And that is the main thing.

Ban on Checking in PeeWee

Two posts on the first day!!  This may not happen that often but I do feel the need(want?) to comment on the Hockey Canada decision (across provinces) to ban checking at the Peewee level (12-13 year olds) and below (http://www.tsn.ca/canadian_hockey/story/?id=423976).  As a former player of minor hockey and a coach of high school hockey in addition to an avid observer of parents at youth hockey games, I am in complete favour of this decision and here is my reasoning...

Aside from the obvious risk of injury to young players, many of whom can differ in height by as much as a foot (not to mention the weight differential!), I believe that many of the problems we see in the stands are partially attributable to checking.  The natural aggressive nature of the game of hockey can often lead to increased levels of anxiety/adrenaline by both player and parent alike.  Add in the impact of a solid body check sending another player to the ice or banging into the boards, and I believe you have a recipe for heightened aggression - both on the part of players and parents.  How many times have I heard parents yell to their own kids to "Nail em!" and "Drive em into the boards!"?  With increased body contact and aggression comes increased anxiety and with increased anxiety comes the innate need (want?) to be the victor of that aggression.  Before you know it you have parents yelling at coaches, yelling at referees, yelling at each other, yelling at the kids.... yelling at their own kids.  So sad!!

While neither of my boys play hockey (despite the fact that I played and loved the game myself), I have observed that for the most part, the parent behaviour at MOST soccer games is considerably less aggressive.  The game (for the most part) gets played in a sportsmanlike manner and the parents (for the most part) are well behaved.  I have also observed that when parents do get somewhat mouthy, they tend to often be parents of kids who - you guessed it - play hockey!!

So is banning checking in Peewee and below.... good decision?  Will it solve all of the "ills" of the 'great Canadian game'?  Probably not... but it might be a good place to start!

First Post

So I've always thought about blogging but have never really taken the plunge!!  So here goes...

I am the proud Dad of two incredible boys, Daniel (15) and Matthew (12) who both happen to play soccer.... LOTS of soccer!!!  They are both great players, but more importantly they are both great people who have taught me more than I will probably ever teacher them... about life, about play... you name it!!  So while this blog will focus primarily on their soccer happenings, I will add in other "stuff" when/where it is relevant.  I have no idea what form this will take, but perhaps that is the fun of it.  We shall see!

For now, perhaps it is enough to know that Daniel plays primarily on two teams, Mount Pearl U16 A and the Newfoundland Labrador U16 Provincial Team.  Matthew also has his hands full (or feet?) with three teams: Avalon U14 A (provincial league), Newfoundland Labrador U13 Provincial Team and his Paradise U14 Club team.  They both do well on all of their teams.  They try hard and win and they try hard and lose (albeit only sometimes)!!

This weekend, I am with Matthew in Marystown, NL as his Avalon Team plays the Burin Pen team.  One game down and the boys were victorious with a 3-1 win (and it could have been much worse as the boys controlled 90% of the play!).

That is all for now...